Nineteen-hundred and eighty-eight years ago today, on Friday April 3, AD 33 at 9:00 AM, our beloved Lord and Savior was crucified upon the cross. At 3:00 PM that same day He died and was buried.

This is why today has been remembered as “Good Friday” for these many centuries.

There is an obvious incongruity associated with the designation of this day as “Good.” Historically, the Church has observed this day as one of deep spiritual sobriety. This is the holy day when believers all over the world gather together in local congregations to reflect upon the horrible passion and sacrificial death of our Lord.

It might surprise you to know that this is the only corporate worship service of the year where we do not, and should not, celebrate the Lord’s Supper. The reason is that our weekly Communion, as the Word itself tells us, is the celebration of the presence of the Resurrected Lord with His people.

But the observance of Good Friday is the stark reminder that before there could be our Lord’s bodily resurrection from the grave, He first had to be crucified on our behalf, “ even to the point of death” (Philippians 2:8). The Biblical order is suffering, death, burial, and then resurrection and enthronement!

Tonight, faithful believers from all nations who love our Lord and are not ashamed of His name will once again gather in order reflect upon the cross and the reason for it, our sins. We will join with them as we come together as the Body of Christ at 6:00 PM this evening. We will read the Word of God, we will sing of our Savior, we will lament, pray, and confess our sins and our faith, and then hear the proclamation of the Holy Scriptures from Galatians 6:14.

And then we will wait . . . for it may be Friday, but Sunday is coming!

It is only the reality of what happened early that Sunday morning at our Lord’s tomb that allows us to look back at that terrible Friday and call it “Good”!